Chapter Five

Two weeks earlier
The swordsmith village was quiet.

Muichiro stood quietly in front of the mechanical doll that was supposed to represent the strongest swordsman of all time. It was still missing one of its arms, but the mechanism was still working...or so he assumed.

"Are you going to train?"

The light tone from behind him caused Muichiro to turn. Behind him, Kotetsu stood, his mask not quite hiding his long black hair from view...or shielding his curiosity.

Muichiro turned away, looking at the doll once more. "I don't need to."

Kotetsu snorted softly; an angry huff of air. "Of course not. You already cut off one of his arms."

"I'm sorry."

Kotetsu, mouth open as if he planned to continue ranting at Muichiro, closed it again with an audible snap. "Huh? You're...apologising? To me?" He took half a step forward, glancing towards the doll and then to Muichiro again. "Whatever happened to you being more important than me cause you're a hashira?"

Muichiro looked away as Kotetsu threw his own words back at him. It hurt, a bit...being reminded of what he'd been like without his memories. "You know, if I really thought that, I wouldn't have saved your life."

There was silence for a few moments, then Kotetsu moved slowly to stand next to Muichiro, almost shoulder to shoulder. "You're different. You don't look so spacy anymore. And you're actually talking."

Muichiro shrugged. He was silent for a few moments, not looking at the other man...even though he could feel Kotetsu standing there, a silent shadow. Finally, he spoke in a low voice. "I forgot a lot of things that were really important to me for a long time. Thanks to Tanjiro, those memories have come back." He paused, watching the doll.

"You sound upset about that."

Muichiro glanced sideways at Kotetsu. "You're far more insightful than I gave you credit for."

Kotetsu shook his head. "I can't tell if that's meant to be an insult or not." He looked towards the doll, silent for a few moments before he offered, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Did he want to talk about it? Did he want to talk about the pain of losing his parents...his brother? He still felt guilty for forgetting them, even though it hadn't been his fault. Instead of answering Kotetsu, he asked his own question. "Do you want to talk about the people you lost?"

"Well, yeah," Kotetsu answered. "It's the best way of keeping their memory alive...right?"

Muichiro was quiet for a few moments, just staring at the mechanical doll. "I'll help you fix it," he said finally. "The arm I broke off, I mean."

"Huh?" Even despite the mask covering most of his face, Kotetsu's surprise was obvious. "You know how to repair a mechanical doll?"

"How hard could it be?" Muichiro didn't wait for a response. Instead, he moved over to the doll, looking at it carefully. "We're going to need materials. Do you know what the doll was originally made out of?"

"Not really." Kotetsu moved over to stand next to Muichiro. "I can probably guess, but without knowing for certain..." His voice trailed off and he shrugged. "Don't you have other responsibilities? I don't know why you're sticking around here."

Muichiro didn't answer. He could have said that he didn't have any new orders yet, and he'd already been in the swordsmith village...so why leave? He didn't see the point in saying that, though, instead beginning to examine the doll. "It looks like a special kind of wood was used in making it," he said finally. "Most wood would have rotted by now, unless treated in some way. But I can't see any signs of that..." He looked up at Kotetsu. "I need samples from all of the different kinds of wood that grow around the village."

"You want samples of all of them?" Kotetsu asked doubtfully.

"Yes. It's the only way to narrow down exactly what material was used, and figure out the best way to repair it," Muichiro said. He took a step back from the doll and nodded to Kotetsu. "Let's go and have a look." Without waiting for a response, he began moving around the wooded area surrounding them. He put aside his sword, instead favouring a small dagger to carve samples from each of the different trees that surrounded them.

Kotetsu watched carefully to see what Muichiro was doing, then began to copy his actions, using his own dagger to carve pieces of tree trunks.

By the time they were finished, Muichiro's hands were covered and sticky with sap. He held them carefully in front of him, a frown creasing his brow, then looked towards Kotetsu. "I need a bucket of water."

"The well's on the other side of the village." Kotetsu pointed in the opposite direction to the forest. "You can get it while I compare the samples we gathered to the doll."

Muichiro paused. For a moment, he thought about pointing out that he was a Hashira...and Kotetsu was only a swordsmith. But those words didn't belong to him. Not really. They were the words of the cold, uncaring person he'd become after losing his memories. Instead, he murmured, "I'll be back soon." Then, he placed the wood he'd gathered onto the grass next to Kotetsu and walked towards the well.

As he walked towards it, Muichiro found his mind turning to the demons he'd fought here in the village...and towards his two fellow demon slayers who had fought as well. Tanjiro and Genya. And, of course, Nezuko...the demon who showed that not everything created by Muzan would choose the path of evil. 

Reaching the well, Muichiro began to draw up the water. There was something soothing in the motion; something that reminded him of his childhood. He filled a small wooden bucket with water and dipped his hands in to wash the sap off, then carried the bucket back to the doll...and Kotetsu.

Muichiro heard the swordsmith before he saw him. Kotetsu's mutters of frustration filled the air as Muichiro returned to the area, pausing next to one of the trees with his eyebrows arched. "You wouldn't last for long against a demon without paying attention to your surroundings."

Kotetsu glanced up, his mask sliding from his face; just enough to reveal dark eyes peering up at Muichiro before he quickly tugged the mask back into place. "I knew it was you."

Not entirely sure he believed Kotetsu, Muichiro nevertheless didn't argue. Instead, he walked over to Kotetsu and placed the bucket next to him, then crouched down, looking at the two piles in front of the other man. "Have you discovered anything?"

"These are definitely not even close to the material used to make the doll." Kotetsu pointed towards the larger pile. He then pointed to the much smaller pile, which only consisted of three different pieces of bark. "These feel like they might be close to the right material...although I'm not sure why I think that."

"Sometimes instincts can be just as valuable as knowledge and experience." Muichiro picked up each piece of wood and examined it carefully, comparing them to the material the doll had been made out of.

"Well?" Kotetsu's impatient voice broke the silence.

Muichiro smiled. It was a faint quirk of the lips, but it was still there. "I don't know," he admitted. "But if you think these are possibilities, I see no reason not to try them out and see which one works the best."

Kotetsu was silent for a few moments before he said, "I don't know what I'm doing. I don't have all of the information passed down about how it was made...only about keeping it going." He sighed. "And I didn't even manage that.”

Muichiro winced, feeling a faint stab of guilt at the words. Carefully, he reached out, fingers hovering for a moment before he placed his hand on Kotetsu's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "It's not impossible to repair. If we work together, I'm sure we can succeed."

"You know, you're starting to sound like Tanjiro."

"There are worse people to sound like, I'm sure." Muichiro allowed himself a small smile as he thought of the other demon slayer and Tanjiro's kind nature and easy smile.

Kotetsu nodded, watching the mechanical doll for a few moments. Finally, he reached into his pocket and took out a charm he'd made in the shape of a cloud. "I made this for you."

Slowly, Muichiro reached out and took the charm from Kotetsu, turning it over in his hands. "You made this for me?"

"Well, yeah." Kotetsu shrugged. "Figured I needed to thank you in some way for saving my life. I still haven't quite honed my craft in swordsmithing, but I can make a protective charm pretty easily."

"Thank you," Muichiro said, honestly touched by the gift. He placed the charm within the folds of his demon slayer uniform, allowing it to rest against his heart, and then smiled at Kotetsu. "Would you like to continue working on the doll?"

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The present
As Yushiro and Genya fought against the Upper Rank One demon...Muichiro's fingers twitched.